3 reasons the St. Louis Cardinals are still contenders despite awful start

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The start to the St. Louis Cardinals season has been ugly there is no way around it. Whether it is the lineup disappearing at the worst time or awful pitching, St. Louis has consistently invented ways to lose during the first two months of the season.

St. Louis enters Wednesday sitting in the division in last place, with the Cubs, Brewers, Reds, and Pirates all firmly in front of them. Despite sitting in the basement and having a disaster of a start, the season is far too long to give up on a team with the Cardinals’ talent just yet.

St. Louis is far from perfect but what was a postseason contender last season has returned for the most part. The losses of Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols are obvious from a leadership and pitch-calling standpoint. However, this Cardinals team didn’t lose enough to take this major of a step backward.

The Cardinals have a great lineup, a solid defense, and a pitching staff that should improve as the season wears on. A lot has gone wrong for a roster that clearly still has plenty of talent and reason to believe they can contend with the most obvious being the current state of their division.

Let’s dive into 3 reasons why the St. Louis Cardinals can still compete for the postseason.

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – MAY 03: Mitch Keller #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates throws a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on May 03, 2023 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

1. The rest of the division will regress

The Brewers clearly aren’t a World Series contender but with a solid top of the rotation and good power in the lineup, they will be players for a division title and a slot in the postseason. The Brewers are the only team in this division St. Louis should be sure it will be tough to run down.

The Reds, Cubs, and Pirates are all already suffering some regression after early solid starts. The Pirates and Reds are clearly not serious postseason contenders and should fall back toward the Cardinals as the summer nears.

Chicago is an interesting team in that they have solid veteran pieces and young prospects who started out the season playing at a high level. The team is clearly fading, however, and shouldn’t be a threat to a St. Louis team that is far better than the first two months have shown.

At best, the Pirates or Cubs are on the fringe of Wild Card contention while the Cardinals have a team that is more than capable of digging their way out of this early hole and competing for a division title. The road will get easier for St. Louis as the division balances out and at best there will be two teams that are close to competitive late into the summer.

May 15, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (22) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The starting pitching will improve

St. Louis doesn’t have a top rotation in the National League, but this team is far better than they have shown in the first two months of the season. Injuries and unusual struggles from the Cardinals’ starters have left the team without one reliable option and a myriad of concerns with the five slots in their rotation.

As the team gets healthier and pitchers improve closer to their career norms, the wins will start to pile up and St. Louis will get back to being the team they were expected to be. A large part of the issue with the Cardinals is despite having a great offense they were down multiple runs before the game was truly underway.

This is a rotation that is clearly underachieving and will improve. The rotation isn’t capable of winning a World Series or going deep into the NL playoffs, but they are clearly far better than they are currently playing and should at the very least be a Wild Card team.

Allow time for the Cardinals veterans at the top of the rotation to get healthy and Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, and Jack Flaherty to produce closer to career norms and they will fight their way back into the postseason race.

May 15, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Nolan Gorman (16) hits a three run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

3. The St. Louis lineup has a chance to be elite

While the Dodgers, Braves, and Padres will all understandably be in the discussion for the deepest lineup in the NL, the Cardinals sneakily could earn a spot in the conversation. Nolan Gorman is off to a hot start and the Cardinals have clearly benefitted from the offensive addition of Willson Contreras.

Add in Tommy Edman and Nolan Arenado, who will both improve as we get deeper into the season, and this is a lineup that is going to put up a lot of numbers as the season warms up. Having Goldy and Arenado hitting back-to-back is clearly going to cause a lot of problems in itself for opposing pitchers. With the bats St. Louis has added in, this is a team that will need to lean on a very capable lineup to push their way toward the postseason.

Even with improvement from starting pitching, the team’s clearest way to win games consistently is leaning on one of the best lineups in the league. That lineup is one that clearly isn’t hitting at its full potential as of yet.

It isn’t ignoring the awful start to still believe in this team, but rather looking at expected regression and improvement and considering that this is still a talented roster that has played its worst ball two months into the season. As dire as it may seem, it isn’t time to give up on the St. Louis Cardinals just yet.

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